6.05% Guaranteed Instant Access On A Savings Account - It's Hard To Beat
|
February 2008 Update
- The internest rate on this account has now been decreased to 6.05%
- Whereas the current Bank of England rate is currently 5.25%
|
|
October 2007 Update
- The internest rate on this account has now been increased to 6.3%
- Whereas the current Bank of England rate is currently 5.75%
|
|
Jan 2007 Update
A lot of chatter over the last month on this IceSave account on two main points -
- The amount of time it takes money to be transferred into the account. The bank says 3-4 days but delays of much longer are being reported
- Real problems contacting Customer Service. A wait of 20-30 mins seems to be common
The account is clearly a victim of its own success because the bank has said that demand has taken it by surprise. These problems will no doubt be sorted out but in the meantime they're something to take note of.
Maybe the best way forward would be to test the account out before you transfer a large amount of money over to them.
|
Dec 2006 Update
- We applied for an account a few weeks back and the process was reasonably efficient
- It did take a touch longer than we had anticipated and the deposits are not the fastest to clear
- However, these seem relatively small points and overall we're happy with the account
|
October 2006
There's a new bank in town called Landsbanki and it's offering a hard to beat instant access savings account. The account comes with none of the sly small print that many banks love to use against their customers.
We hadn't heard of Landsbanki before but are informed it's Iceland's oldest commercial bank. The Bank is fully authorised and regulated by the UK Financial Services Authority (FSA). This regulation means that investors receive the same protection and guarantees that they would with any UK bank.
The Icesave Account
- Online easy-access account with an interest rate of 6.05%
- Minimum investment is £250 which has to be held in the account at all times to receive the 6.05% rate
- Maximum investment is cool £1million
- Withdrawal can be made at anytime without penalty and without notice
- The account comes with two guarantees -
- It will beat the Bank of England (BoE) base rate by at least ¼ point until October 2009
- After Oct 2009 the rate is guaranteed to at least match the BoE base rate for a further 2 years
IceSave v ING Direct
For the last few years the ING Direct account has been the darling of savers, not only for paying a great rate of interest but also being really consistent, ie the interest rate didn't fluctuate that much.
However, ING Direct now gets a pretty rotten press and deservedly so. This is because many believe it has been playing an old financial marketing trick. This is where headline grabbing rates/deals are offered to entice savers only for the company in question to drop the returns after a few years.
These kinds of strategies work well for the banks because once customers have funds deposited many don't realise that their money is not earning the best interest or if they do, can't be bothered to change accounts.
Icesave's double interest rate guarantee therefore give much comfort to savers over the next 4 years or so.
Summary
The Icesave account is hard to beat and the interest rate guarantees are the longest on the market bar none. It therefore deserves to be recommended and the Icelanders should be commended for giving their new customers a clear, transparent and above all simple to understand account.
See Also
|
